Hermod
Hermod is the Norse God of messengers. History Appearance Personality Abilities In legend Many times the society of the gods mirrors those of the people who worship them. This was true in the heathen North, just as it was in many other parts of the world and in other pagan societies over the centuries. In the Asatru faith the gods had a messenger named Hermod, whose job it was to move swiftly and without fear to carry the words of the gods to those who needed to know. Though he is only mentioned once or twice throughout the mythology, the importance of Hermod can be seen by the part he played in the story of the death of Baldur. In the Viking sagas, Hermod is referred to as Odin's son, though the translation might be Odin's boy, as in he is a servant of Odin. However, in other parts of the myth Hermod is clearly referred to as the son of Odin and the goddess Frigga. This puts him on a level with other gods like his half brother Thor, god of thunder, his brother Tyr the one-handed god of war and his younger brother Vidar the Silent God who was destined to kill the Fenris Wolf at Ragnarok, the Norse version of Armageddon. There are even some scholars who equate Hermod to Freya's husband, making him a noble and fortunate god indeed. In the Norse myth, Baldur was plagued by visions of the future of his own grisly death. So his mother went to everything in the world, living, dead and otherwise to ask of it not to hurt her son. Beautiful and beloved everything agreed not to harm Baldur, except for the mistletoe which was considered too young or weak to do any harm. Unfortunately this dire secret was uncovered by Loki the trickster god, who was spiteful and who hated Baldur. Loki tricked Hod, Baldur's blind twin, into throwing a spear of mistletoe at Baldur, which struck him down and killed him. This is where Hermod comes to center stage. All of the gods wept for Baldur and they wanted him back amongst them. So Odin permitted Hermod to ride the eight legged horse Sleipnir (which Odin would ride on the wild hunt) who could ride over land, sea and air. Hermod, who was fleet of foot in the first place, added his speed to the steed's and horse and rider rode to Helheim, domain of Hel the goddess of death. It wasn't a realm that the living returned from, so it took quite a brass set to ride in there, treasure of the gods as a mount or not. Hel, impressed that Hermod came all the way into her turf to beg for the release of the god of beauty and light, offered a ransom. If everything in the world, living and non, would shed a tear for him then Hel would release Baldur back into the world of light. Not only that, but she released Hermod to deliver the message back to the gods. Everyone, from the gods and goddesses to the valkyries and the frenzied berserkers, plants, animals, rocks and men wept for the fallen god. Everyone but Loki, in the disguise of a hag, and that one spiteful refusal was enough to seal the fate of the god and begin to tilt towards Ragnarok. Like Thor's wife Sif, and his sons Modi and Magni who were overshadowed by Thor in their youth, Hermod is mentioned in no other important myths. However, the bravery and importance he has in this myth shows that he was greatly respected and that his bravery shone up there with the great and mighty among the gods. Sometimes it's not how often your name gets printed, but it's in which story your name shows up in that shows how important you are. Category:Norse God Category:Messenger dieties Category:Immortals Category:Males Category:Gods